Q&A: CCDC's Maas on development of downtown San Diego

Sports-entertainment district in East Village tops his wish-list

Fred Maas, chairman and acting president, of the Centre City Development Corp., hopes a permanent (and paid) replacement will be named by year's end. He's been in charge since February 2009, several months after former president Nancy Graham resigned in a conflict-of-interest scandal.

Fred Maas, chairman and acting president, of the Centre City Development Corp., hopes a permanent (and paid) replacement will be named by year's end. He's been in charge since February 2009, several months after former president Nancy Graham resigned in a conflict-of-interest scandal.

The full Q&A with Fred Maas, chairman and acting president of the Centre City Development Corp., will appear in the Business section Monday, Aug. 9. Here are a few highlights to whet your appetite for more.

(The full Q&A with Fred Maas, chairman and acting president of the Centre City Development Corp., will appear online and in the Business section Monday. Here are a few highlights to whet your appetite for more.)

QUESTION: After 35 years, why is San Diego's downtown still in the redevelopment business? The private sector was supposed to take over from the jump start managed by CCDC.)

ANSWER: I think to a great extent, we’ve been hoisted on our own petard. The fact that we’ve reached the cap we were going to achieve well in advance of the expected life span (of the redevelopment project areas) was an indication of the success of redevelopment downtown, not a failure. If we look at the engine redevelopment has created, it has benefits well beyond its borders and creates the justification to continue to fuel that explosion downtown. If we look at the amount of sales and TOT (hotel tax) money generated downtown, it doesn’t just take a developer to realize how we can boost that number, because ultimately, when we disappear, the city is the beneficiary.

QUESTION: With the Civic Center off the ballot, when will it ever come back to life?

ANSWER: I’ve been hit over the head with the crystal ball so many times, I tend not to make predictions. I’m one who believes that after a significant amount of research and exploration that it made infinite sense for the city, and you have to hope and believe that sound business decisions and projects ultimately come to fruition.

QUESTION: East Village and the Chargers Stadium — what’s possible there?

ANSWER: If we’re creative enough in the design and development of the stadium and we’re open-minded at the outset as to how it can become an adjunct and synergistic to Petco, we can do a lot of things.

QUESTION: And what about the Tailgate Park parking lot next door?

ANSWER: My dreams are not all that concrete, though my dream there is certainly in color and not black and white, and it involves the Sports Arena and clearly it requires AEG (Facilities Inc., operator of the present arena in the Midway area) to come to the table and have a dialogue about that. My vision for that entire aspect is from Petco, clear to the edge of the MTS site, would be to create a true sports-entertainment district akin to what they’ve done with Staples and LA Live, what they’ve done in Baltimore, Miami, San Antonio, San Francisco. A live-entertainment district around sports venues has been terribly exciting, and it will help expand Gaslamp east, would be an incredible catalyst for development in East Village, and I think it would be a signature for the city. I would love to have a closer relationship with Comic-Con and create a series of things both around Petco and the redeveloped MTS site.

QUESTION: The North Embarcadero is still being planned, but the Navy Broadway Complex at the foot of Broadway seems stalled. It may never come to fruition as developer Doug Manchester and the Navy have envisioned it. What if they fail and we have to start all over again?